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Opinions
As chief law officer of the state, the Ohio Attorney General provides written opinions on legal questions at the request of designated public officials on issues arising in the course of their duties. The Attorney General’s Office does not prepare opinions for private citizens. The Opinions Section researches, writes, and prepares for issuance and publication all formal opinions of the Attorney General. For more details about the formal opinions process, please visit the Opinions FAQs.
Opinions prior to 1993 can be found under the Opinions Archive.
The Opinions Section also maintains a listing of previous AG Opinions that have been subsequently overruled.
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Requested by: Greene County Prosecuting Attorney
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission cannot authoritatively interpret R.C. 4112.02(G), which does not prohibit operators of public accommodations from adopting policies that limit communal restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms to members of a single sex. Whether a restroom, changing room, or locker room that is open to the public and located in a facility owned by a governmental entity is considered a “public accommodation” under R.C. 4112.01(A)(9) for purposes of R.C. 4112.02(G) is a question of fact that must be determined by the courts. Political subdivisions and their employees can be liable for violations of R.C. 4112.02(G).
Requested by: Ashtabula County Prosecuting Attorney
A county official cannot perform maintenance or make repairs to county-owned buildings and offices and improvements over the objection of the board of county commissioners, and if funds are not being used in the manner for which they were appropriated, the board of county commissioners may stop the repairs and the expenditure of funds. Members of the board of county commissioners have the ability to access county-owned buildings and offices to oversee maintenance and repairs.
Requested by: Muskingum County Prosecuting Attorney
Because R.C. 3335.37 specifically mandates that money obtained from a tax levy or from the general fund of the county be paid into the Ohio State University Extension fund, a county cannot directly distribute the funds to the Ohio State University Extension office in the county, and a board of county commissioners has no authority to charge the Ohio State University Extension rent or utilities for the county office space provided to it pursuant to R.C. 3335.36.
Requested by: Highland County Prosecuting Attorney
Neither landowners nor fence-builders can demand the removal of most trees situated within four feet of a partition fence pursuant to R.C. 971.33. The term “trees for use” in R.C. 971.33 refers to trees that are planted for a particular purpose, and whether a particular tree is “for use” is a question of fact for the courts.
Requested by: Butler County Prosecuting Attorney
No statute directly mandates or authorizes the recording of a memorandum of contract between a real-estate broker and homeowner in which the homeowner agrees that the broker will be the listing agent if the homeowner sells his home within the next forty years. Therefore, it is within the county recorder’s discretion to determine if the memorandum of contract is a type of instrument required or authorized by the Revised Code to be recorded and/or whether the submitted memorandum of contract is materially false or fraudulent. See R.C. 317.13(B).